Preview: Northampton v Hereford

The Cobblers are back on home turf this weekend as they welcome bottom club Hereford United to Sixfields Stadium.

Physio turned caretaker manager and former Hereford player Jamie Pitman will remain in charge for their visit as chairman David Keyte is unable to appoint Simon Davey’s successor as he is away on a buisness trip.

The Bulls will be looking to build on last weekends encouraging draw against league leaders Port Vale who they held 1-1 at Edgar Street last weekend in Pitman’s first game in temporary charge.

For the home side, manager Ian Sampson hasn’t stressed enough the importance of a win on Saturday afternoon and what better opponents to face then 24th placed Hereford.

Sampson feels it is only a matter of time before his philosophy of football starts yeilding results and his side start climbing the League Two table.

– Match Odds (Coral) –
Northampton Win – 5/6
Hereford Win – 10/3
Draw – 5/2

– Northampton Possible Starting 11 –
Dunn
Johnson Tozer Holt Davis
Parker Wedderburn Osman Jacobs
McKenzie McKay

Vital Quotes:

Northampton boss Ian Sampson remains confident his side are close to getting the results their performances deserve.

‘Everyone’s frustrated that we’re not winning games at the moment but thats human nature,’ Sampson told ntfc.co.uk.

‘The players know that they are playing well and they are all still positive and they have the belief that we will turn things around.’

‘It’s a tight league and we just need to keep believing in what we are doing and hopefully things will turn around for us.’

‘The result is the most important thing on Saturday and I want to get that result playing good football but if we play badly and still get three points then I’ll take it.’

Hereford caretaker manager Jamie Pitman is hoping his side can build on from last weeks draw with Port Vale.

Talking to BBC Hereford and Worcester, ‘The draw against Port Vale has given them confidence that they can perform at this level and compete with teams at the top of the league.’

‘We try and make it as enjoyable as possible, it’s tough being bottom but we keep emphasise what we want from them.’

‘We try and work hard in training, If they do it every day in training hopefully they will take it into games.’

Northampton Team News:

The Cobblers will again be without defender Dean Beckwith who now serves his first of a three match ban after his red card last weekend.

Striker Leon McKenzie is expected to start alongside Billy McKay upfront after his impressive display after coming on as a substitute last weekend.

Nathaniel Wedderburn could replace Ryan Gilligan but Herbert, Hinton and Purcell remain sidelined.

Player to watch: Josh Parker

Josh Parker is excited by the prospect of making his home debut tomorrow for his third appearance since joining on loan from QPR.

Parker was very lively last weekend at Cheltenham and was always a threat. Skillful and with bags of pace, the Hereford defence will have to be on top guard tomorrow afternoon.

Hereford Team News:

Hereford will greatfully welcome back defender and captain Janos Kovacs, who has been sidelined for six weeks with a knee injury.

The Bulls are also boosted by the news that striker Stuart Fleetwood has been passed fit for the game and should go straight back into the side with captain Kovacs.

Sean Canham will miss out serving his one-match ban following his dismissal last weekend.

Player to watch: Janos Kovacs

The return of Kovacs will be a much needed boost for the Bulls who will look to tidy up their leaky defence.

The defender is expected to go straight back into the starting 11 after his six week injury lay-off.

Match Facts & Stats

Northampton
Form: W W L L L

Last weekends defeat at Cheltenham was the Cobblers’ third straight league defeat and have failed to score in their last two games.

Top Scorers:
Billy McKay – 4
Kevin Thornton – 4
Andy Holt – 2
Michael Jacobs – 2

Hereford
Form: L L L L D

Hereford’s draw at Port Vale was their first point in 5 matches. The Bulls have only secured one point away from home in a 1-1 draw against Bury last month. Hereford have lost their four other away games in the league so far this season.

Top Scorers:
Sean Canham – 2
Janos Kovacs – 1
Guillem Bauza – 1
James McQuilkin – 1

Hereford – Last Visit To Sixfields
League Two: Tuesday December 1st ’09 – 7:45pm

Northampton – 1
Ryan Gilligan ‘1

Hereford – 3
Darren Jones ’16
Mathieu Manset ’57
Craig King ’74

Match Prediction:

We have to take advantage of Herford’s poor form and like what Ian Sampson has said, what ever it takes to win this, playing good football or scrappy football, we must win! Northampton to scrape through to win just by a single goal.

Northampton 1-0 Hereford

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